Well, it has happened again! We have finished another season of Garden Time. This 10th year has been a blast. You would think that we would have visited everything about gardening over the past ten years, but we are finding that we have just scratched the surface! We look forward to bringing you more stories next year when we return in March of 2016.

Now a lot of people have asked how they can stay in touch with us while we are gone? Well, we always have the www.Gardentime.tv website. I will try to update it with timely gardening information. We also have our Facebook page and Twitter that you can like and follow. Plus we have the monthly Garden Time Magazine which can appear in your e-mail for free each month. You can find all the links for these on our homepage.

This week also marks a big weekend for holiday shopping don’t forget to show some love to our sponsors when you are doing your gift buying. They are the reason we are the only local gardening show in the area. They are also the reason we are able to return each season!

Finally, we would like to thank all of you who have supported us for the past ten years. We are truly honored that you let us come into your home each week. We hope to meet each of you, if we haven’t already, in the coming years to thank you personally!

Have a great holiday season, no matter what you celebrate, and have a wonderful new year!

This week we featured...

A Holiday Vintage Flea

The current decorating trends are pushing antiques as a hot item, but they can also make great gifts for that hard to satisfy person on your shopping list! Flea markets have always been known as the place to be for some of these buried treasures that you can use in your home or your yard. This weekend there is one place where you can get your holiday shopping and flea market fix at one time. Margie’s Farm and Garden is hosting ‘A Vintage Flea’. A Vintage Flea is a vintage/flea/antique market with anything from antiques and mid-century vintage to crafts and castoffs. We visited A Vintage Flea earlier this summer when they had their first event. Kathy joined us to tell us about the new holiday event which is twice as big as the previous one. At the event you can find cool furniture that had been repurposed, homemade crafts, and one of a kind items, in addition to the antiques. You will also find a lot of holiday décor items to get your home ready for the holidays. There will be food, wine tasting and other holiday treats as well. Plus, if you need a Christmas tree, Margie will have those available too, starting at $10. She will also have wreaths and garland available too! This is a great event for the one-stop shopper! If you are out and about this weekend, stop by!

Lee Farms Christmas Trees

Thanksgiving has past and now it is time to start thinking about Christmas and Christmas trees. We stopped by Lee Farms (503-638-1869) in Tualatin to visit with Craig Lee about the most popular types of cut Christmas trees this season. The varieties that Oregonians are buying include Douglas fir, Grand fir, Nobel fir and the Nordmann fir. The newest variety of tree that is also gaining in popularity is the Nordmann fir. Lee’s also carries the wonderful Davis Tree Stand. Pick one up and you will never need another stand again!

Now that you have your tree and your new stand, how can you make sure that it will last through the season and stay fresh? You could get a flocked tree. The flocking on a tree helps to seal in the moisture and that means little or no water is needed. If you have a green tree there are a few rules you need to follow before you decorate to make sure it lasts through the season and into the New Year. Craig told us to always make a fresh cut on any tree you purchase from a tree lot. If you cut your own tree make sure you get it into some water as quickly as possible. Some other tips; use lukewarm water the first time you water your tree, and add an aspirin and a couple drops of bleach to the water. Don’t use any soda in your water. Some people think the sugar in the soda will help the tree last longer, but it really just promotes the growth of bacteria and that is not good for your tree. Remember, if it runs out of water once, it will seal up and then it doesn’t matter how much water you add, so make sure you have a large reservoir of water under your tree. Don’t let the tree run out of water and you will have a longer lasting green tree for your holidays.

Oregon Garden – Christmas in the Garden

One of the newest events in our area for the holidays, and one of the most fun is the Christmas in the Garden at the Oregon Garden (1-877-674-2733). This is an outdoor event that is patterned after a traditional German Christmas Market. The Discovery Forest at the garden is decorated with over 400,000 lights. There are lots of things to do with the family when you get there. This year they have added an ice rink! You can enjoy ice skating with your family every day of the month! And on the 10-13 of December you can even see live reindeer! For the adults there are 18 different vendors offering holiday gifts and crafts. Adults can also enjoy gluhwein, a mulled wine and other adult beverages while listening to live music and carolers. While you are enjoying the scene you can sit by one of the many fire pits and enjoy the warmth. Kids can see Santa every weekend too. It promises to be one of the best holiday events in the state. Plus, the Oregon Garden Resort is offering a special package where you can stay at the resort and enjoy the event as well. Packages start at $109. The Christmas in the Garden event continues through December (except Christmas Eve and Christmas day) until the 3rd of January. For more information you can call the Oregon Garden or check out their website.

Now since it is the holiday season, we decided to give away a few gifts… We have some passes for the Christmas in the Garden event. All you have to do for your chance to win is to go to the Oregon Garden website and find out how many lights they used in their displays this year. Send your answer to us at GardenTime@comcast.net to be entered for a chance to win 2 passes to the event. One entry per e-mail, please. Good Luck!

Portland Nursery – Gift for the Gardener

A lot of people are out battling the masses for a few great shopping deals at some stores, but you can find great ideas for the gardener at all of your local independent garden centers, without all the crowds. We found one of the best places to shop at Portland Nursery. Both stores, Stark (503-231-5050) and Division (503-788-9000), have tons of great gifts and plants for the gardener. This weekend both stores will be celebrating their holiday open house on Saturday from 9 to 6. Stop by and check out some great gifts. This year Portland Nursery is also participating in the Little Boxes campaign in Portland. This event promotes the small, locally owned shops in our area. You can shop at these places, pick up a code, then enter that code to win prizes from participating vendors. The grand prize includes a 4 day trip to San Diego or Hawaii! You can also get an additional 10% off at some stores. Also, they have a great program for after the holidays. You can bring in your poinsettia, dead or alive, and you will receive a $5 credit to use at their annual indoor plant sale in January. Finally, they have some great classes in making wreaths or center pieces that you can sign up for. Plus if you get a group of friends together you can have a class all to yourselves! Just contact either store for details. The gardener doesn’t have to be left out in the cold this holiday season. Stop by Portland Nursery and let them help you get just the right gift for everyone on your list.

Little Prince Garden Gifts

The winter months can be depressing for the gardener. Little or nothing seems to be growing and we are trapped inside until the spring returns, but that doesn’t have to be the case. We stopped by Little Prince of Oregon to see some of the plants they are selling to their retail customers. Mark met us in the greenhouse to show us some really cool plants that would make any gardener happy. We started with succulents. Little Prince had combination containers that were packed with various succulents and sedums. These are perfect for the indoor gardener. They need very little care (in fact some people will love them to death) and as much sunshine as you can give them. They also had decorative rice pots with single plants in them. We also checked out tillandsias, also known as air plants. These plants don’t need soil to grow, in fact they just need a little misting every few weeks to keep on growing. The crew at Little Prince actually had these strung into some chicken wire that was attached to wooden frames. It made for a very cool display. We also saw a Staghorn Fern mounted in a similar frame. These would all make a great collection of wall hanging plants in any home. Finally we took a look at some bird houses and mason bee houses. They had planted the roofs of these little homes with sedums so they had little ‘green roofs’. These were very cute and functional at the same time. They even had the houses unplanted so you could plant one yourself with your own different plants. These were just a few of the ideas that you can find at your local ‘Little Prince’ retailer. For a listing of garden centers that might have these, you can check out their website. To get the latest news and plant information ‘like’ them on their Facebook page.

Sisters Fruit Company

We love new products, especially when they are local and delicious! We found a tasty new product recently and when we looked into the company we found out that they were a perfect story for our show! The company is called Sister Fruit Company and they make an incredible apple chip that is all natural and minimally processed. Sandi, the marketing director, said this company is only a couple of years old, but this family owned business is part of a much larger, much older story. Summit Foods is a wholesale processor of local fruits that has been around for many years. You can find their products in a bunch of local foods, but this time they decided to try a retail product. Hannah and Heidi, the daughters of the owner, decided to make this company their mission, and that is where they got the name! The chips are light and crisp, and extremely tasty! They are addictive! They not only use Northwest apples, but they also recycle too. The waste from processing is made into a biofuel right on site!

The apples are just the start. They are now testing a new pear chip, so be on the lookout for that too. To find a retailer nearest you, check out their website!